I grow my own as well. When I first started doing so, I thought I would have trouble because I live in Wisconsin. On the contrary, the watermelons I grow are amazing and much beloved in the family. My husband keeps making the garden bigger to accommodate MORE watermelons. Here's what I had to learn to grow good watermelons: 1) select an heirloom variety that will work in your climate and with the days you have in your growing season (we have two favorites around here -- Blacktail Mountain and Crimson Sweet, though I've grown Alabama varieties as well); 2) start them inside and transplant them outside when they're a bit bigger so most critters will leave them alone (until they have fruit and then don't be surprised when groundhogs or raccoons go after them); 3) don't water often; but when you do water, water very deeply.

If you haven't tried growing your own watermelons and you have the space to do it, give it a try. You'll never eat a store-bought watermelon again. I took 50 watermelons out of our garden last August and September. They ALL got eaten -- kids, grandkids, rest of the family. Everybody now anticipates the watermelon harvest every year. :)